Last month, we tried a call-in segment with the crew from the Better Government Association. Essentially, the idea was for us to answer your questions on good government. And you responded! The questions ranged from hiring structure (why are there all these precinct captains?) to infrastructure (why is it that all train underpasses are in disrepair?). The lines were jammed with several other questions so we've decided to bring the segment back!

The BGA will be in studio today and you can call with your questions. 312-923-9239.

Tuesday on the Afternoon Shift, we are trying a new segment. The Better Government Association is coming in our studio to take your calls about, well, better government. But instead of just telling stories of graft and corruption, we wanted to provide a service for you and your government questions. We want you to call in and get advice. It can be anything. It can be:

How can I get a city contract?

Why does my parking sticker cost so much?

How do I get the pothole in front of my house fixed?

Why is that city worker sleeping in his van?

The BGA has answers. They'll give you the tools to take action and arm you with the information you need to help navigate local government. We should call the segment "Call in and stump the BGA!"

But seriously, call 312-923-9239. You can also comment here and of course, on Twitter with our hashtag, #AfternoonShift. The segment starts at 2 p.m.

We look forward to what could be a lively, entertaining, informative and active conversation.

When we booked Smith for the interview, the question came up about what to talk about. Sure we could talk about the illustrious career of one of the true independent filmmakers. The movie Clerks is arguably THE independent film of my generation. And watching Smith and the View Askew crew continue to work in Hollywood puts a smile on all 35- to 40-year-old dudes. This is our filmmaker and we're proud of his accomplishments. We quoted every line from Clerks. We discovered Jason Lee (Mall Rats). We fell in love fromChasing Amy.

How did I just see this? The Chicago Sun-Times put this on the front page today. I guess this is what we miss when the paper will eventually go away. But luckily, it's not too late for a good ole' fashioned caption contest!!!!!

I'll go first:

-- "Um, Garry? Gar? I thought we said no cell phones."

-- Garry (to phone): "Yeah, Hello? It's Garry. Me and my buddy are going to come through. Can you get me a table towards the front?" Rahm: "Garry, I um, I uh don't know. I told the wife that I would come home straight after."

-- Rahm: "I should have gone with the t-shirt and the collar. Instead, I just went with my suburban dad shirt. It's more comfy than you would think..."

So Chicago taxpayers owe more money on the parking meter deal? $50 million to be exact. I'm happy that the city is fighting the bill, but the irony is delicious. Will the mayor have to contest this bill like I contest a parking ticket? Does Rahm hope the police officer doesn't show up to court so the ticket gets thrown away? Did they take pictures of how close the city's tire was to the yellow zone? I would love to see the mayor go down to the parking ticket office and wait in line and then get a rude customer service representative that is two minutes away from her shift ending. That would be sweet.

I was in Old Town last night (cause that's how I roll) and I found a metered spot on North Avenue in front of Pipers Alley. I punched the "max" button to get the full two hours needed and I was met with a $3.50 an hour charge. To park in a metered space for a little over two hours was going to cost me $8.50. That's not the Chicago I know and love. That's an imposter.

Now that the NATO summit has concluded, it's time to wrap up the winners and losers. No, not the political winners and losers, but the heroes and villians of the media.

For the most part, the protests didn't really resonate on an international scale. President Obama stole the headlines yesterday and this morning with his NATO plan for withdrawal from the war in Afghanistan. But the bigger story is that this protest didn't go viral. There was a lot of talk about how many people showed up downtown (fewer than expected), but really, the protests always play out online. In this case, there wasn't a huge story to share.

Reddit had no stories of NATO and the protests on the first two pages. Digg (less relevant) has nothing. The live-blog/tweet/stream media was robust, but the stories died shortly after. NATO did not go viral.

So let's recap the weekend with winners/losers:

Winner: Phil Rogers. Rogers is a longtime reporter for NBC 5 Chicago. He and a cameraman positioned themselves right on the front line of the protest at Cermak and Michigan Sunday night.

Wednesday Steve Edwards sits down with Chicago's original shock-jock Steve Dahl. Dahl has been on Chicago radio for four decades. He dominated ratings for WLS and WLUP as half of the famed "Steve and Garry" show. Steve was a national name representing Chicago radio. And if anyone hasn't paid attention to Chicago history, Steve was at the center of the infamous "Disco Demolition" at Comiskey Park.

Here is a news clip from 1980 when Dahl was fired from WLUP:

And how bout this: Dahl and Meier on Phil Donahue talking about rock music and the dangers of rock radio:

Today, Steve Dahl shows up once in a while on WLS, filling in for their afternoon talent. But these days, Dahl can't be heard on the radio. He has jumped head-first into the world of podcasting. The Steve Dahl Show is the anchor for the Dahl Network, which is a subscription-based podcast.

The election is over. The candidates have won and lost. The volunteers have gone home. But wait guys...what about all the signs you put up on the fences? What about the litter of stickers and fliers strewn about the public walkway? Don't even get me started about the medians by the polling places.

Listen to Steve Jensen on Afternoon Shift

Who cleans that up? If you live in the 32nd Ward, you can thank Mr. Steve Jensen.

I met Steve Jensen at 7 a.m. on a cold Sunday morning in Bucktown. Steve had offered to let me "ride-a-long" for his morning check-in of the 32nd Ward. He's the main man for the "Alderman Waguespack Street Team." It's a volunteer position, almost like the neighborhood watch.

What does Steve actually do? His job is to serve as a neighborhood janitor. It's much more complex than sweeping floors, but essentially Steve cleans up after wild weekend partying. That entails picking up trash, taking down signs and painting.